Fighters
by mad to love
Summary: He was the sin she craved, and she was the piece of innocence he held onto. They balanced eachother out and maybe that’s what kept them coming back for more. SangoBankotsu.


**Author's Note:** Sorry if writing too much Sango/Bankotsu is making you go blah. I was going to write an old school Harry Potter oneshot, then I was criticizing myself too much and switched back here. Actually, I'm satisfied with this one. So, once again, hope you guys enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha. If anything opens up on eBay, call me.

**Summary:** _He was the sin she craved, and she was the piece of innocence he held onto. They balanced eachother out and maybe that's what kept them coming back for more._

-

"_There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave: You were what I wanted; I gave what I gave. I'm not sorry I met you; I'm not sorry it's over. I'm not sorry there's nothing to save."_

- _Your Ex-Lover Is Dead_ by Stars

* * *

"I guess this is goodbye then, huh, taijiya?" his eyes flickered with something; sadness, perhaps?

She almost laughed at the thought.

A sad smile curled her lips, "I guess it is. It's been fun, though."

"It has. Glad you enjoyed it," he chuckled darkly.

An awkward silence filled the air, one neither of them felt like breaking. They had been through much, and at the same time, very little. And they weren't quite sure they wanted to end it just yet.

She bit her lip, and hesitantly breathed, "Well, goodbye, Bankotsu."

He shifted his halberd from one shoulder to the other and gazed at her lazily, "See you around, slayer. And don't get yourself killed over that monk, you hear?"

She laughed, more freely than she had in a long time, "Never."

Turning to leave, she walked with heavy steps, as if attempting to slow time itself down. She felt her mood immediately swing; small tears pricking the back of her eyes, but she wasn't about to run back and have to endure another goodbye. The urge was unbearable, though.

"Oh, and Sango?"

She spun around, maybe too fast, to face him once more; her warm, chocolate eyes meeting hard, cobalt ones.

"Don't forget any of this."

His chuckle was quiet, as she shook her head and smiled.

He'd never change. One moment he'd be no better than a child; the next he'd be stoic, the walls around his heart more visible than ever. The manic, unmerciful killer he was to everyone on the outside fell somewhere in the grey area.

They parted then, the events of their meetings embedded forever in their minds.

'Goodbye Sango,' he thought to himself, reaching the end of the clearing.

He turned around then, hoping to catch one last glance of her, to find her watching him. He wasn't caught off guard, in fact, he almost expected it. He knew her to dwell longer on memories and life more than anyone else; the pain she kept inhabited inside from her slaughtered family being a prime example.

A small smile broke onto her face, a true smile, as their eyes met for the last time.

He flashed a smirk, nodded, and turned away. He had gotten himself in deep with this girl, but he forced himself to go on. He had a job to do, after all.

Their footsteps going in the opposite directions echoed in their wake.

-

In the end, she had to let him go. Their ways were meant to part; they weren't meant to be together. This, they knew. Over the short period of their acquaintance, they had come to know eachother. Perhaps they didn't voice their proper emotions the last time they were in eachother's presence, but then, it wasn't in their nature to. This, they also knew. She knew she wouldn't forget, and he knew he wouldn't let her. In a way, they were almost spitting images of eachother. He went down fighting, and she'll continue to fight. Because that's who they are.

-

"_Do you think we could ever be together?" she mused one night._

_He stretched his hands behind his head, back flat on the ground, "I doubt it, slayer."_

_Scoffing, she challenged, "You just don't want to."_

"_And you do? Face it, we wouldn't work and you know it."_

_She faltered at his negativity. Was he really that against it? What the hell were they doing anyway; what was she thinking? A series of one night stands repeating themselves over and over again wasn't going to do her any good. She shook her head; she detested the way he inflicted these insecurities upon her with simply a few remarks._

"_We're working pretty well right now," she argued._

"_Well, what's a couple of lays and chats and nights sneaking away?"_

_She remained silent, knowing he had a point. She wasn't even sure why'd she asked in the first place. Her sense of judgment had been troubling her lately. She wasn't so calculated, wasn't so concentrated, and wasn't so __**invisible**__._

"_Believe me," he continued casually, "even that monk would be better for you."_

"_Miroku?" she held back her surprise and raised an eyebrow skeptically._

"_Hell, that mutt could even be better than I ever could," he added, not bothering to hide his bitterness._

"_Now you're just making excuses."_

_Which was true, he was always making excuses. Always trying to stray away from heavy topics. Life was far too short to be hovering on maybes and could-have-beens; he'd never let himself get too attached to anything, not anymore, he'd only get hurt in the long run._

"_So what if I am? I'm rotten to the bone, Sango, you know that."_

"_Then why haven't you killed me yet?"_

"_Eh, never crossed my mind to be honest," he waved it away with a shrug of his shoulders._

-

They were fighters. Maybe that's what had drawn them to eachother. They fought and fought and fought, because that's who they are. Fighters. She had a thirst to protect, and he had a thirst to kill. He was the sin she craved, and she was the piece of innocence he held onto. They balanced eachother out and maybe that's what kept them coming back for more.

-

_She laid her head on his chest, listening to the painfully loud noise of his missing heartbeat._

_Stroking her hair absently, he said in a low voice, "In another universe, maybe."_

"_What?" she lifted her head to look at him._

"_I said, maybe in another universe, we could be together."_

_Her eyes widened slightly, she wasn't completely serious when she had mentioned it._

_The night sky was reflecting in his eyes, matching cobalt for cobalt almost perfectly, "I mean, there, anything could happen. Maybe I'd still be alive, and maybe I wouldn't even have been a mercenary."_

'Maybe you wouldn't have killed,'_ she thought silently._

_She sat up, rearranging the rails of her train of thought to travel the same way as his, "Maybe I'd still have my village. Maybe Kohaku would still be with me and maybe– "_

"_Maybe we'd have been on the same side," he finished plainly._

-

"_Our house would have dark mahogany-coloured walls," his chuckle was light as he mulled over the thought._

_She was the only person he let his guard down around. She almost reminded him of home, his old one, anyway. And she was the only person he could talk like this around. One might even go as far to suggest that Bankotsu, leader of the infamous Band of Seven, was falling in love. Though you probably wouldn't be alive long enough to pass the tale around._

_Her eyebrow raised, her look told him she believed he's finally lost it. _

_And indeed, perhaps he had._

"…_Why mahogany?" she finally asked._

"_Warm, soothing colour, don't you think so, taijiya?" he said. It also reflected her eyes with great accuracy, coincidentally._

_Quirking her lips, she remarked, "Why not typical white walls? _Very_ traditional."_

"_And blank. And __**cold**__. I used to have those walls. Couldn't stand the sight. Couldn't stand the blasted village come to think of it."_

"_So you left?"_

"_There wasn't another option. They couldn't expect to keep me cooped there forever."_

_She rolled her eyes, "What, too small for your grand personality and intellect?"_

"_Too small for my desire to live," he replied, leaning against the tree._

"_What about your family, your friends?" she asked, surprised he'd throw it away just like that. But then again, it _was_ Bankotsu._

"_I missed them, sure, for a little while anyway," he said quietly. "But then __**they**__ became my new family."_

_She looked up at the endless sky, dark and peaceful all at once. She was beginning to fall slowly asleep before he spoke again._

"_**And I lost them too."**_

-

'Oh, she's not going to be happy tonight.'

_He could sense her angry presence coming closer and closer at a quick rate. She was running. She probably couldn't wait to give him a good strike over the head with that boomerang of hers and a nice yelling fit._

_He set down his Banryuu, and sat down against a nearby tree. The air was especially calm tonight; the lake water didn't so much as ripple. He listened for Sango as he looked up, trying to count the infinite amount of stars strewn across the sky._

"_Bankotsu!"_

_He jumped visibly at sudden hiss from behind him. Whipping around, he came face-to-face with a livid demon slayer; he grinned sheepishly._

"_Nice night–"_

_He was cut off as she grabbed the front of his__haori, "You massacred _**another**_ village?"_

"_The others were getting restless!" he raised his hands in mock-surrender. "What was I supposed to say? I'm a cold-blooded murderer, you seem to forget."_

_She scowled as she let him go, walking out from the forest and into the clearing. She plopped down onto the grass in a furious huff, glaring daggers at him._

"_How many innocent people did you kill this time?" she sneered. _

"_Too many to count."_

_Gods, his smirk was unbearable as she rolled her brown orbs and slumped back. Heaving a sigh, she asked quietly, "Why do you kill, Bankotsu?"_

_The part of his face hidden in shadow by the tree he sat underneath didn't hide the sudden glimmer in his eyes. It was a mad sort of glimmer, the kind that spoke with great intensity about his dedication to his wicked hobby._

"_Why do I kill? I've been asked that somewhere before…"_

_Oh, that's right. That dead priestess, Kikyo, had posed a question like that a while ago. He grimaced, remembering how he wondered just how accurate she was with those sacred arrows. He didn't want another mishap like the one with her reincarnation._

"_It's just who I am. I'm a mercenary through and through. I don't need any reason for killing people," he answered, editing his original response._

_She narrowed her eyes at him, being struck greatly with just what he was. What he claimed to be. _

_A monster._

_-_

"_Inuyasha's getting suspicious," she said softly one night, gazing at the moon's reflection that rested upon the lake. _

_He seemed amused by this, "I should say so. The mutt wouldn't be living up to expectations if he weren't."_

'At least Inuyasha hasn't smelt him on me,'_ she thought with a small sigh of relief. A quick dip in the lake after Bankotsu would leave did her good; it washed away most of the scent. She'd only been questioned once or twice about her outings so far._

_He stared at the pale glow of the moonlight as it danced across her features, and exhaled slowly, "I assume our meetings are drawing to a close, you mean. Shame."_

_She rolled her eyes at the casual note in his voice. Did she really want to tangle herself in the fine lines of this mess? What would happen if they didn't stop, and her friends really did find out? Was she really going to betray them like that?_

"_Yes, I suppose they are."_

-

_He coughed, "So…that ninja kid is your brother, eh?"_

_He knew he hit a nerve, a big one, but he needed to know. He needed to know why the boy was playing messenger for him and his brothers, and just what happened with Sango that had the kid working for Naraku._

"…_Sango?" he nudged her gently._

_She snapped out of her reverie, "He…yes. Yes, Kohaku's my brother."_

_He noticed she had choked slightly on his name when she said it, and she knew. She closed her eyes, unable to stop herself from repeating the image that's played across her mind, taunting her, a thousand times. It was all her fault. She was the one who failed to save them all. She was supposed to protect her brother and she let everyone down. It was the darkness that followed her wherever she went, from when she awoke and into her nightmares._

_Her brow knitted together uneasily, and he quickly murmured, "Sango? Sango, you still with me?"_

_She looked up to see his expectant blue eyes staring down at her, and she groaned inwardly. He wanted to know. He knew she was uncomfortable, and yet he still wanted to know. He would poke and prod her until she exploded. He was like that. He was a simple man with simple values; he liked killing, sake, and answers._

_She remained silent and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them. He just about thought she wasn't going to respond, when her soft, yet melodic, voice drifted through the air._

"_Kohaku, my father, two others, and I were sent on an extermination. The lord of the castle was possessed by a demon and he took control of my brother. We were all slain, as was Kohaku, in the end. It was all Naraku. __**He**__ killed them. __**He**__ slaughtered my village, just for the jewel shards we had."_

_Sometime during her short explanation, she had started shaking. Her hands balled into fists, utter fury pulsed through her. Bankotsu had just made her relive everything fully, made her remember every detail. Even if she didn't voice them all aloud, she __**remembered**__._

_He didn't answer. He knew she could feel his stare, but he doubt she cared. He swallowed, suddenly feeling…sympathy, was it? He was surprising himself more and more, when he was with her. He regretted asking her, making her experience the obvious pain she was going through. He…he wanted to reach out to her, but something stopped him._

"_Sorry," he muttered, forcing his hand to awkwardly stroke her back._

_Her breath hitched when she felt his touch; he apologized? She shook her head once more and abruptly stood up._

"_Don't worry about it," she said quietly back, at the same time strapping Hiraikotsu back on._

_He got up when he saw her getting ready to leave, "Where are you going?"_

_She shrugged, and turned to look at him, her eyes wide with unshed tears. It was the most vulnerable he'd ever seen her; something twisted inside him when he remembered he was the one who did this._

"_I thought taijiyas weren't supposed to have weaknesses," he said with a small smile, trying to break the sudden ice that separated them._

_She grimaced, her mouth set in a firm line, "I'll be here tomorrow."_

_And with that, she turned and ran._

-

"_Do you regret this?"_

"_Never. I don't think I ever will."_

"_If you could go back, you wouldn't have done anything different?"_

"_I wouldn't have changed this for the world. Would you?"_

"_No, not at all."_

_She smiled at his response._


End file.
